Day: June 5, 2013

I am so blessed! Both of my parents are still alive! They are getting older, but I am lucky enough to still have them around! We are separated by distance, but isn’t the internet supposed to shorten the distance and bridge the miles? The short answer is no.

My parents have internet access. My parents connection. What my parents don’t have is the dexterity to operate a traditional mouse or a basic understanding of how to operate a browser. It makes it incredibly difficult to share information in a timely fashion without these basic skills.

I am nothing, if not tenacious. The old saying ‘where there is a will there is a way’ seems to be my motto. So whenever I try to email my father something, I have him check to make sure he has received it, and then we play the game where he tries to retrieve it or view it. Heaven forbid he ever have his security settings set so he could allow a link to come across from a trusted source – Me. I set my account up as a ‘trusted source’ last year, but it appears he has changed his settings, again. He is a wee bit paranoid, God Bless Him for that!

Well, as he would say, ‘That doesn’t stop old Cisco.’ I have more relatives who are adopters of technology, so I just leverage that. I tell Dad which relation I am sending the email to. I add a header to the forwarded message, explaining the situation. This will usually get a smile. Wait a bit. Dad calls the relative. This is a no-fail solution. Dad gets what he needs. My relatives get an opportunity to visit with my father – this is truly time to be treasured! I get to impress him. But even I have to admit, this is the hard way.